Genuine Seal Skin Mittens

We have been studying the Inuits of North America. So of course we had to sew our own genuine seal-skin and polar bear fur mittens that the Inuits would have worn in Alaska. The boys were concerned about hunting seals so we shopped for our furs at the local Joann's. Ours came as polar fleece. Much easier to obtain and less messy. The kids sewed their own taking turns at the sewing machine. I only had to use the seam ripper on Kaleb's 3 times. Three times a charm. Where in Arizona are these children going to wear them you may ask? In the freezer section of the grocery store of course. Or maybe that "one" day in Phoenix that it gets cold. They make great dust mits. Either way it was fun to do and made a great learning experience.

Ride 'em Cowboy

This cowboy costume was Jared's about ten years ago. It has resurfaced and has been worn by Cowboy Kaleb and now by the infamous Tori girl and her faithful stead Juna-Juna. (Don't ask) She explained how to brand cattle with a branding iron as she was holding a tube with a "X" stand. I think it is actually a stand for a flag or something. She did a good job telling me how they put the end in the fire and then poke the cow as she pokes the refrigerator with the end. Smart kiddo.

A Friendly Visitor

This little gecko snuck through the door last night and ran up the wall onto the clock. They hang out over our doorways outside. One fell onto my shoulder once. Anyway, we had a heck of a time catching this little guy. I was standing on a chair being brave, it is only a lizard after all. The crazy thing jumped onto my hand...I screamed...it jumped onto the floor...Victoria and Kaleb screamed...the lizard dissappeared under the table. It took 15 minutes and 3 flashlights under the table to find this little guy. Daphne to the rescue. This time Kirk caught him. No screaming there. He is now safe back outside catching bugs over our door way once again.

Murphy

Murphy is the largest dog we know. He is a huge Goldendoodle. Kelly's family adopted him when he was a little smaller. The girls still think that they can ride him like a pony. When he lays on the floor there isn't much space left. He is only two years old too. Imagine a bundle of energy running through the house at his size. He is great though. We all love him. He has been known to eat items of clothing too. Large items of clothing. And he loves cotton balls. He and Henry rough house when they are together. We can only get them together when the weather is cooler though because they play so hard we don't want them to get over heated. It is quite a scene with him being so big though. Henry will jump up and push off of Murphy's chest then roll down between his legs. Murphy reminds me of Clifford the big red dog.

Little People Co-op

We had our first Little People Co-op on Mon. My friend Kelly and I are on round two of our co-op days. The first co-op we used to do involved our older kids. But now that she has graduated one out of High School and her next and Daphne are Sophmores it is harder working the schedules. So last year we started over with our younger ones. The Little People. The theme was Hermit Crabs. Here is a picture of Rusty whom we borrowed from my mother. Long story as to how she acquired two hermit crabs. Anyway, they were a great asset to our unit study on Hermit Crabs. They enjoyed walking among the crayons and pencils and paper. They didn't like glue sticks though. Must have smelled too strong.

They made these cute lobsters out of canned pears and peaches. Kelly is really good at creating something out of food. Our children have been blessed over the years with making creations out of edible supplies. The table cloth makes it look like we are at a clam bake.

Toby Cat

Toby is a huge cat. He is 12 now but even when he was a kitten he was huge. He and Jared were buddies growing up. There was one time Jared was teasing him. He was about 10 months old at the time. He was crawling after Toby bugging him. All of a sudden he comes crawling back into the room really fast with Toby riding on his back. Nails and all. I wish I had a picture. It was priceless. Anyway, Toby always has this look on his face. He always looks so tough and he is the biggest fraidy cat we have ever known.

The Cooking Show

Victoria loves the Cooking Show. I think she likes the whole idea of mixing and stirring all the ingredients together. When she plays the Cooking Show she will even talk like Rachel Ray or Sara Lee. I am really hoping that as she continues to grow I may be able to hand over the wooden spoon and have her cook our meals. I know...it's hopeful. It is okay to wish for these things. Anyway...I was making dinner and Daphne came into the kitchen and said "You might want to see what Victoria is doing in the living room". That is always cause for concern. This is what I found her doing. She was sitting at the coffee table dressed in her nurse in training scrubs watching Rachel Ray. She emptied half a bottle of salad dressing into a bowl with carrots. She was mixing(of course) and spooning the coated carrots into another bowl. When I asked her what she was up to she said with a huge smile on her face..."I'm doin the cookin show...I'm doin it with her!" I have to admit, she wasn't making a mess. It was all well contained. It could have been worse. Now she did empty half a bottle of salad dressing....in the livingroom! I picked my battle and told her that she needs to do that stuff in the kitchen and not waste food. She said "okay".